"Jared!"
The door to Jared's office flew open, banging against the wall behind it. Jared's head jerked up. His office was in his garage, open to the public, but it was rare for anyone to show up there. He did the lion's share of his business over the phone. Alex burst into the room, his eyes wide with panic. Alarmed, Jared rushed to meet him. The distressed teenager threw himself into Jared's arms, clinging to him.
"Don't let him, Jared. You have to tell him he can't do it. You have to help me!" He was crying and out of breath, making it impossible for Jared to make heads or tails of what he was trying to say.
"Here, Alex, sit down and calm down. No one is going to hurt you. I'll get you some water." When Jared returned with the bottle of water, Alex was calmer. He took a long drink and dashed the tears from his eyes.
"I knew you'd help me," he said with a little hiccup. His eyes were red rimmed from crying, but Jared couldn't see any sign of an injury.
He leaned back on the edge of his desk, close to Alex. "Help you? What's wrong?" Jared asked. "Did someone hurt you?"
"It's my dad." Tears threatened again, and Alex scrubbed at his eyes furiously.
"Your dad hurt you?" Jared leaned over Alex and cupped his chin, lifting the boy's face to look again for signs of abuse.
"No," Alex pulled away, shifting in his chair. "Yes. I mean, he didn't hit me, or anything. It's just, he's sending me away. He can't do it! I won't go! I won't. You have to stop him, Jared. I can't leave. I can't."
Jared stared at Alex, overwhelmed by the flood of mixed emotions brought on by his words. Sharp tearing pain at the thought of Alex leaving, warred with the relief that he wouldn't have to keep fighting his baser instincts. Jared didn't have time to indulge his inner turmoil, Alex needed him. He grabbed his desk chair and pulled it around to sit in front of Alex.
"Alex, you have to calm down. Tell me what happened." Jared's calm had the desired effect on the boy. Alex took another drink of water and a deep breath.
"I want to go to MIT," Alex said, "Dad says that my school here isn't preparing me for the demands of a college like that. He found some high school he wants me to go to, to get me ready for it."
"A prep school," Jared said, and Alex nodded.
"Yeah, that's what he called it. A prep school. He said if I go, college won't be such a struggle for me. He tried to make it sound all about school, but I think he knows about us." Alex's breathing quickened. He looked close to another panic attack. Jared wasn't about to let him run.
"We're just friends, Alex, it's not a secret," Jared reminded him.
It was a partial truth. They didn't hide their meetings. Jared made sure when he was with the boys, they weren't alone. However, he'd never tried to meet Alex's parents. He thought Alex would introduce them when he was ready. He never had.
"It doesn't matter, he knows. He said I need time away to get my head straight and figure out my life." Alex's hands fisted. "I know what I want. I don't need time."
Agitated, Jared ran a hand through his hair. "Of course you need time, you're fifteen. You aren't living your adult life, you're just on the edge of it."
Anger darkened Alex's eyes. "You sound like him."
Jared didn't back down. "That's because he makes sense, and if his motives aren't pure, well, whose are?" Jared was harsher than he meant to be, his love for Alex a guilty weight in his heart. He wanted to be there for him, to help him find his place in life, but it wasn't selfless motivation. He loved Alex, wanted him. Those things made him an undue influence in the boy's life. Getting him away was the best thing, and doing it without mention of the Alex's sexuality was compassionate and brilliant. Jared was impressed.
Alex was not. "You want me to leave! You're tired of me, and you want me to go away!" He jumped up, but Jared pushed him back into the chair with a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Listen to yourself, Alex. You sound like a ten year old. I don't want you to leave, and if I live to be a hundred and twenty, I couldn't get tired of you. The thing is, we can rant and rail all we want, but it comes down to one thing. You can't stop it, and neither can I. He's your father. He can send you to prep school if that's his decision. You can't choose to go or stay, that's out of your hands, but you do have a choice. You can choose how you'll go. Are you going to leave screaming, yelling, and throwing tantrums like a two year old, or are you going to accept your fate with quiet dignity like a man? This is a huge opportunity. You can waste it with childishness, or you can make the most of it."
"You make it sound easy," Alex grumbled, sinking into his chair. The tantrum was over and he was listening.
"It's not easy. Stuff like this never is. A year and a half ago, I was in college. One day, they came, got me out of class, and took me to a counselor's office. My mom was on the phone when I got there. My father had a heart attack and he died. It was hard. I lost my best friend that day. It took a little longer for me to realize the rest." He gave Alex a steady look. "I lost my life. College was over. I had to come home and take over the business. The contracting company was my mother's sole support, and it was putting me through college. Dad wanted me to graduate and come back as a full partner. Instead, my father was gone, and I was the sole owner at nineteen. I had to make a choice and I did. I accepted the change in my plans and I've made the most of it. It's not easy, but it was the right thing to do." Silence fell between them.
"Telling me about your dad dying isn't playing fair," Alex muttered. "And you always do the right thing. It's pretty annoying, really."
Jared huffed out a laugh. "I'm evil that way. Look, Alex, I'm not suggesting that what's happening to you is the same as me losing my dad, but leaving is going to affect your life just as drastically. I don't always do the right thing, but I try. I know you've heard that saying about how women have to be twice as good as a man before they are accepted as an equal. That's true about us too. People have odd ideas about gay men. We're the only ones who can teach them better. I told you before, we have to be twice as strong, twice as brave, just to get half the credit. It's even worse for you because you're still so young. Your parents see a boy, show them the man."
Jared watched the boy square his shoulders. A light came into his eyes.
"I really can't stop this, can I?" His tone pleaded for Jared to take it back, but it was beyond Jared's ability to fix and he shook his head.
"I can't help, Alex, I wish I could." Despite his initial relief that Alex wouldn't be there for him to mess up, Jared's heart ached with the knowledge the end came much sooner than anticipated. His life would be a darker place without Alex and his thousand-watt smile.
"I have to just accept it?"
"Not at all, you can argue your side. If your Dad doesn't come around to your way of thinking, and he probably won't, then find a way to show you are cooperating under protest."
"Dignity and self-respect," Alex mumbled. "It's all you talk about sometimes, even when you don't say it. Is that really all that matters?"
They were on their feet, and Jared led Alex to the door. He looked at the boy's earnest face, the stain of his tears still on his cheeks. Jared wanted to touch him, to offer physical comfort, not just rationale, but he didn't dare. He couldn't trust himself.
"What else is there?" he asked.
Alex's eyes narrowed, and without warning, he crowded Jared against the door.
"This." Alex reached out grabbing Jared's hair, pulling him down into a kiss. Their breath mingled and their lips met. With a low moan of desperation, Jared pulled Alex hard against him. He needed this so much. Alex surged forward and when Jared lifted him off the floor, Alex's legs wrapped around his waist. Jared turned, pinning Alex against the wall with his body. His hands cupped Alex's face, his thumbs caressing smooth cheeks. His mouth slanted, demanding and hungry, over Alex's. Their tongues tangled and Alex pulled hard on Jared's hair, rutting against him.
The sounds he made, agonized whimpers of need, brought Jared back to his senses. He jerked away so fast he dropped Alex. Stumbling, Alex regained his balance, unable to tear his eyes away from Jared's.
"Holy crap. Is it always like that?"
Shaken to his core, Jared struggled to regain control. Alex's eyes, dark with need, wide with surprise, were a magnet to Jared's raging lust.
"No, no, it's not. It's never like that. You have to go."
After a single wide-eyed stare, Alex fled.